How to Eliminate School Loans

Student loans can be both good news and bad news. Many students are able to go to college because of the financial help they receive. That's the good news. The bad news is that they must pay the loans back at a time when they can least afford to. Many graduates live paycheck to paycheck, at least until they can get on their feet financially, so they struggle to make payments on their college loans. However, there are ways they can reduce or eliminate what they owe.

Instructions

1

Teach for a minimum of five years at an elementary school or high school that serves families in a poverty-level community. Make a five-year commitment to teach either math or science at a secondary school. Or become a special-education teacher at either an elementary or a secondary school in a high-poverty area. If you do so, you'll receive up to $17,500 for payment on your Perkins or Stafford college loans.

2

Work for the federal government. Under the Federal Student Loan Repayment Program, which is administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, if you work for the federal government in any capacity, your student loans will be reduced by $10,000 each year that you work, as long as you commit to about three years.

3

Volunteer for duty in the Peace Corps, VISTA or AmeriCorps. If you volunteer for the Peace Corps, during your first year the program will reduce your Perkins loans by 15 percent. If you serve longer, it will reduce your Perkins loans by 20 percent each year for the second and third years, or up to 70 percent of the entire loan amount if you volunteer for four years. If you volunteer for AmeriCorps or VISTA for one year, it will apply $4,725 toward your Perkins loans.

4

Sign up with the Army National Guard while you are in college, and you'll receive up to $10,000 credit against your student loans. If you have a medical degree or are a trained health care professional, you can also reduce your student loans when you serve in the guard's health care division.